Flooring trims



July 11, 1961 w. A. BOETTCHER FLOORING TR IMS Filed March 10, 1958 IN VEN TOR.

United States Patent 2,991,516 0 FLOORING 'IRIMS William Boettcher, 4507 N. Clark St., Chicago, Ill. Filed Mar. 10, 1958, Ser. No. 720,198 2'Claims. (Cl. 20-6) My, invention relates to the laying of wooden floors, and more particularly floors in large halls or gymnasrums. Owing to the large number of flooring strips involved in installations of the type referred to, the factor of expansion from climatic influences must be considered. It is thus customary to make allowance for the expansion of the floor by laying the same short of the walls or marginal limits to which the floors extend. Then a trim in the form of a baseboard shoe is secured to the wall to bridge the space between the flooring and the same.

The trim just referred to is usually of metal and secured to the wall by a line of bolts. The riser or flange of the trim is rather conspicuous, as is the line of bolts, lending the wall a mechanical appearance. Also, the drilling of the wall to accommodate the bolts, particularly where the wall is of concrete is quite a task, rendering the application of the trim difiicult. Further, the trim is a part of the wall rather than the floor, and its position may not be consistent with the level or composition of the floor. Owing to these disadvantages, it is one object of the present invention to provide a marginal trim for flooring which is entirely a part of the floor and has no projection rising along the wall or any part fastened to the same.

A further object is to provide a floor trim of the above character which embraces the assembly of the floor compactly and neatly.

Another object is to provide a trim of the above character which is designed to be held down by the floor assembly without the need of fastening the trim to any supporting part.

An additional object is to design the novel trim in a manner to open it for immediate access to the edge of the flooring in case the same requires inspection or servme.

An important object is to construct the novel trim along lines of ruggedness and simplicity.

A better understanding of the invention may be had by reference to the accompanying drawing, in which- FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of a section of flooring adjacent to a wall, showing a portion of the improved trim installed;

FIGURE 2 is a similar view on a magnified scale, showing the layers involved in the flooring assembly; and

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged section on the lines 3--3 of FIGURE 2.

Referring specifically to the drawing, denotes the concrete base of the floor, and 11 is wall adjacent thereto, such wall being of concrete or other type of masonry.

In building up the flooring assembly, the first layer is a sheet of cork 13, the same being attached to the concrete base by means of a mastic substance 15. The next layer is the sub-floor '16, which usually runs diagonally, as indicated by full lines in FIGURE 2 and dotted lines in FIGURE 1. The top layer of the assembly is the regular flooring 18. It is noted that the subflooring 16 and regular (flooring 18 stop short of the wall 11, so that room may be had for the flooring to expand.

The novel marginal rim comprises a channel-shaped molding 20 running the length of the floor. As shown in FIGURE 3, the back of the molding lies against the 2,991,516 Patented July 11, 1961 2 wall 11, while the base '22 of the molding lieson the concrete floor base 10. The top 23 of the molding is slightly above the top of the flooring 18 on the under side, so that the molding allows for the expansion of the floor. The surface trim is a strip 25 which overlies the molding top 23 and is secured to it along the length of the molding by very short screws 26. The strip 25 overlaps the last strip of flooring 18 and is chamfered at 28 to meet the surface of such strip.

When the marginal trim is to be installed, it is laid on the concrete base 10 before the flooring is laid. Thus, the mastic 15 first receives the base 22 of the trim and then the cork sheet 13, the latter overlying the base 22 as shown in FIGURE 3. The sub-flooring 16 is then laid. The top strip 25 is removed from the molding 20 to permit laying the flooring 18 as far as the entrance to the molding :20. Then, the strip 25 is replaced to overlap the last flooring strip and screwed down, forming a neat trim for the flooring. It will now be apparent that the assembling of the flooring with the cork sheet 13 serves to hold the molding down, so that no bolts or other devices are necessary for attaching the molding. The purpose of the cork sheet, which is impregnated with a sealing compound, is to insulate the flooring against dampness from underneath. Also, being stiff and abutting the molding 20 endwise, the corksheet serves as a firm cover, when sealed by the mastic layer 15, to hold the molding down. Since the molding, held as stated, becomes a part of the floor, no holes need be drilled in the wall 11 for attaching the moldling or base trim. The last strip of the flooring is concealed at all times, and ample room for the expansion of the floor is had within the molding. However, should it be necessary to change the last floor strip, or add to it, it is an easy matter to remove the screws 26 and lift oif the top strip 25, permitting access to the end of the flooring. The novel floor trim may be made of sheet steel; and the top strip 25 may be made of stainless steel or aluminum in order to avoid corrosion. Further, the novel trim is of simple construction, eliminates the need of a baseboard shoe, and makes allowance for a maximum degree of expansion. Finally, the deep capacity of the improved marginal trim makes it especially adaptable to floors laid on mastic, since they are known to have a greater degree of expansion than those which are nailed down.

While I have described the invention along specific lines, various minor changes or refinements may be made therein without departing from its principle, and I reserve the right to employ all such changes and refinements as may come within the scope and spirit of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a flooring construction, a rigid floor-base, a vertical wall intersecting said floor-base, a channel-shaped molding including a planar base, back portion and top portion, said planar base adhesively being secured to said floor-base, said channel base being integral with said back portion and normal to said channel base and substantially abutting said vertical wall at one side, said top portion projecting from said back portion in spaced overlying relation to said channel base, a firm insulating sheet adhesively secured to said floor-base and marginally overlying and engaging said channel base and engaging said molding back portion endwise opposite the side that substantially abuts said vertical wall, juxtaposed sub and surface floorings juxtaposed on said insulating sheet and terminating in a marginal edge disposed in spaced relation from the molding back portion, and a surface trim strip removably secured to said channel top portion and terminating in a marginal edge overlying an intermediate portion of said surface flooring, said trim strip being spaced above said surface flooring for permitting vertical and lateral expansion of said sub and surface flooring.

2. The structure of claim 1, said channel top portion being of less width than said channel base and terminating in a marginal edge disposed in spaced relation from the marginal edge of said surface flooring to permit ready removal and replacement of said flooring when the surface trim strip is removed.

UNITED STATES PATENTS Schafier Mar. 8, Smith -l Aug. 29, Awbrey May 1, Connelly July 30, Kern Sept. 7, Dordel Dec. 22, Sundelin Feb. 5, 

